Baby Gear: What I Loved UPDATE

It has been forever and a day (almost 3 months, to be exact!) since I wrote part 1 of my Baby Gear: What I Loved & What You Need post. I said part 2 was forthcoming…. and I’m working on it right now. The good news is that you new moms and moms-to-be get the benefit of three additional months of purchases! My procrastination is your gain.

Before I post part 2, I need to post some updates to my original post. I’ve had a few months to use these items, and some things I initially loved didn’t work after a few weeks of use.

Blankets

I still recommend thermal blankets for newborns. However, invest in some swaddling blankets if you plan to swaddle your baby. I highly recommend swaddling! My favorite swaddling blankets are aden + anais and Swaddle Designs. I have not tried this product, but the Halo SleepSack Swaddle looks very appealing. I have tried the Halo SleepSacks and love them, so I think I would love the SleepSack Swaddle as well.

Layette

Speaking of sleeping wear, the Halo SleepSacks are amazing! They are basically wearable blankets. They are meant to be worn on top of PJs or onesies, and they zip for easy handling. SleepSacks are recommended over blankets to reduce the possible risk of SIDS. The Halo SleepSacks come in fleece and cotton.

Diapers

I initially recommended Pampers Swaddlers as my diaper of choice. However, Pampers made some changes to their diapers, and the Swaddlers they sell now are not the ones I used with Cooper. Swaddlers are now made with Dry Max technology, which is rumored to cause third degree chemical burns in some children. Also, they have removed the yellow strip on everything but the sensitive Swaddlers. I have not personally tried the Pampers with Dry Max yet so I can’t comment on how I like them. I’ll do a separate post on diapers in more detail, but out of all the diapers I’ve tried (and I’ve tried almost every brand!) I like Huggies or Target Up & Up the best.

Sheet Savers

I raved about the Koala Sheet Savers and while I still think they are the bees knees, I must recommend that you remove them once your baby can roll over.

Bath Gear

This area is one where I have to recant almost everything I said. When Cooper was a newborn, my husband and I would simply put him in the bath with us. Try this at your own risk. Babies are wriggly creatures. Add soap and water to the mix and you are asking for disaster. Getting into the shower with Cooper must be done with five hands and a prayer. I also no longer love the bath sling. It never fully dried out and I didn’t find it super supportive. We’ve moved on to the Fisher Price Ocean Wonders bath tub and I love it. It has a sling for newborns and a supported, reclined seat for older babies. We’ll probably move into a blow up tub once he’s sitting up on his own.

First Aid & Baby Grooming

I spoke briefly about nasal aspirators in my first post, but I have to say, this is one of my most-used baby items. I am absolutely phobic about boogies, so I am constantly after Cooper with the dreaded boogie sucker. The nasal aspirator you will receive at the hospital is hands-down the boogie sucker in the world. However, if you are like me and have neglected and hungry chihuahuas, they will decide to proceed to eat not one, not two, but every single nasal aspirator in the house. I (quite literally) purchased every single nasal aspirator at Wal-Mart, Target, and Babies R Us. The only one that comes close to working as well as the hospital nasal aspirator is the Sassy blue elephant nasal aspirator. I found it at Babies R Us, but it is also sold on Amazon. I also tried the electric nasal aspirator – it was the biggest waste of money ever.

To aid with boogie sucking, I use Simply Saline drops and Boogie Wipes.

Other Moms Recommend….

I also asked my mommy readers for advice and/or products they recommend.

Catina and Sarah pointed out that when you receive registry gifts from Target without a receipt, you can head to the store kiosk and print off your purchase history.

Jenn recommends covering your waterproof crib mattress with a sheet, then a waterproof pad, followed by another sheet. If you have a middle of the night accident, you can simply pull off the top sheet and pad without having to put new sheets on the bed. Genius! She also recommends temporal thermometers.

Bonnie recommends gripe water for hiccups (it gets rid of them instantly!) and sheet savers for the changing pad.

Amber recommends not buying a lot of bottles until you know what your baby will prefer. Good advice, Amber! We went through three sets of bottles until we found what we now use with Cooper.

Well, there you have it. I’m working on Part 2 and should have that posted in a few days. If you have any products you love, please leave me a comment or shoot me an email. If you’d like feedback on a specific product, please leave that in the comments as well.

Moms, I’d love to include your product recommendations so please tell me – what are your must-have baby products? What can you not live without?